RASHMI REKHA DAS
These days, keeping children away from junk food has become a tough task for mothers. With junk-food and fast-food centres mushrooming at every nook and cranny, kids naturally get attracted towards them. It is the responsibility of mothers to inculcate healthy eating habits in children so that they can be dissuaded from eating junk food. This is what mothers told to the Orissa POST when asked about what they do to keep their wards away from such unhealthy food habits.
Shreyashri Banarjee, a homemaker, said she usually experiments with tiffin items at home so that her only son Lala does not get drawn towards junk food. Banarjee, a resident of Bhubaneswar, feels that it is not an easy job for mothers to prepare tasty tiffins for their kids.
I prepare dhokla using chana dal and suji, cutlets using soya chunk, suji pastas, different kinds of sandwiches, custard, kheer and paratha. Many items can be easily prepared at home. Mothers should also take care that the tiffin items should look attractive and served nicely. Different kinds of biscuits can be baked at home also, she quipped.
Smruti Rekha Dasbhanja from Aska said as she is a good cook, whatever she prepares her son likes that. Instead of taking her son out for fast food, she prepares healthy version of fast and junk foods at home.
“Upama, idli and cakes are the favourite tiffins of my son Anshu. Apart from preparing these items, I give him fruit salads, fruit juices and deserts such as frozen yogurt, which will help decrease the need for restaurant-style fast foods in children”, said Smruti.
Gurmeet Kaur of Punjab said it is very easy for a mother to keep her ward away from junk food. Mother should come up with yummy and tasty tiffins at home so that her kids stay healthy and say no to street junk foods. “I prepare pasta, chuda poha, suji upma, sandwich, potato fries and french fries. Sometimes I also prepare paratha and roll it using tomato ketchup,” she said.
She even narrated how she prepares pasta. “Boil the pasta first. Then add some oil in a hot pan and put vegetables in it. When vegetables are done, add half a bowl of malai (milk cream), two spoons of soya sauce, pasta masala and sauté well. When the cream starts melting, add the boiled pasta and stir well. This is how I prepare pasta for my child. Not only it is healthy, it tastes yummy as well”, she explained.
Suprava Chokraborty, a mother of two boys, said her elder son Siku never wants to eat junk food while her younger son Chiku has a strong craving for junk food.
“Siku says no to fast food as he feels hungry even after eating the food. On the other hand, Chiku goes crazy for fast foods. It is not easy to convince Chiku always. Thus, sometime I prepare junk food at home for Chiku”, said Suprava who resides in Bhadrak. However, parents should not ban junk food completely, she quipped.
